THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN

Pharisees loved God and country, were very religious, highly trained, upright, and totally against the Roman Occupation of Palestine. They were loved by the masses in contrast to the elitist Sadducees who belonged to the ruling class. Let us not forget that Paul, Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, and Gamaliel were Pharisees.

In Sunday's lection, the Pharisee was telling the truth. Everything he said in his prayer was true.

Publicans or tax collectors were probably the most hated people during Jesus’s time. They worked for Rome and were considered collaborators and traitors.

In Sunday's lection, everything the tax collector said in his prayer was also true.

Both men were truthful. What's the difference?

The tax collector judged himself and found himself needing God's mercy. The pharisee judged the tax collector and found the tax collector needing God's mercy.

Then and now, we all need God's mercy. Especially those of us who, like the pharisee, think we don't.

*art, "The Pharisee and the Publican," JESUS MAFA, 1973 (from the vanderbilt divinity library digital archives)